Elections are taking place across the UK on 5 May. There are about 4,360 seats up for grabs on about 146 councils, plus a handful of mayoral elections and seats on 1,000 parish councils.
Voters in England, Wales, and Scotland will pick who they want to run services that affect everyday life in their local area. People in Northern Ireland will choose its government.
Media reports suggest that the results are likely to reflect how people feel about Boris Johnson, the "partygate" scandal, how Covid has been handled and the rising cost of living.”
Speaking about the importance of local council elections, Kanti Nagda MBE told Asian Voice, “Local elections, taking place every four years, gives voters the opportunity to express their opinions on how things are run in their local area. People consider planning permission, crime, transport, and climate change thus giving chances for the prospective candidates to address these issues. In addition to these, we are facing a cost-of-living crisis, as inflation rises, energy bills soar, and fuel prices spike. All citizens from the UK, the Commonwealth and the EU who are aged 18 and over on the day of the election and are living in the area are eligible to vote in the local elections provided they have registered with the local registrar. It is every citizen’s duty to perform the civic right by going out on 5.5.2022 and putting a cross on a ballot paper.”
East London Labour stronghold
According to Evening Standard, at the last local elections in 2018 Labour had their best results in 45 years in London, securing control of 21 of the capital’s 32 borough councils and winning every single seat on three councils. One of those councils was Barking and Dagenham, which Labour has controlled since the borough’s formation in 1965.
Despite campaigning on the issue during a by-election in the Thames ward last year following the resignation of Labour councillor Bill Turner, Labour retained the seat with 42.4 per cent of the vote.
Like voters across London and the country, those in Barking and Dagenham will likely also be factoring the cost of living crisis into their decision.
While Barking and Dagenham Council agreed a 1.99 per cent increase to council tax bills last month, it still represents one of the smaller increases across London. Half of London’s boroughs have agreed council tax increases of 2.99 per cent – the maximum allowed by the Government.
Andy Burnham calls for ‘complete rewiring of Britain’
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called for a “complete rewiring of Britain” and its political system – including the introduction of proportional representation (PR) for general elections and wholesale reform of the House of Lords.
Burnham has highlighted the cost of train services from Manchester to London – pointing out that an open return ticket costs more than a flight to India, Jamaica, Brazil and the Ivory Coast.
The Greater Manchester Mayor said that “all parts of the north need substantial regional devolution” in order to fulfil the Government’s promise of levelling-up left-behind areas of the country.
“The House of Lords needs to be an elected senate of the nations and regions,” he continued.
“And I would turn House of Commons elections into a proportional representation system. Every MP is fighting for their small constituency, and it prevents people from acting across a broad region. I would like to see MPs elected more on a regional basis than on a constituency basis.”
Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport tweeted that the victim of disgraced Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan called the Conservatives days before his election detailing first-hand reports of child sexual assault. It is horrifying no action was taken.” She shared a letter she wrote to Chairman of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden on the serious questions he must answer.
Dowden shared photos campaigning in Newcastle and tweeted, “It’s Conservatives who keep council taxes low, and deliver better local services.”
Tories are set to lose 800 council seats, poll indicates
Meanwhile, Telegraph exclusively reported that Tories are set to lose 800 council seats – and Sir Keir Starmer on course to be PM in 2024. “Pollsters Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now are forecasting a five per cent swing from the Tories to Labour at the local elections in England and Wales on May 5. If replicated at a general election, the figures suggest Labour would emerge as the largest party in Parliament, 15 MPs short of an overall majority and probably reliant on a power-sharing deal with the SNP to form a government,” the publication reported.
Their report categorically mentioned that Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now found the Tories are likely to lose 810 seats – with their wards falling from 1,965 to 1,155 – while Labour will gain 835, giving the party 3,722 predicted wards.
Keeping in mind that not just representation from ethnic minorities, but more factors will be instrumental in this election, including the fate of the Tory party - a possible cabinet reshuffle should they lose, the list of candidates released by the Conservative Friends of India promises representation of ethnic minorities during these much anticipated elections.
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Here’s the list of CF India Candidates
Sanjana Karnani
Kingsbury
London Borough of Brent
Hari Hrushikesh Borpatla
Heston East ward
Heston
Salman Khan
Kingsbury
London Borough of Brent
Sumeet Jalan
Bromley
Sushil Rapatwar
Preston ward
Charu Sood
Weybridge St George’s Hill ward
Runnymede & Weybridge Constituency
Pranav Patel
Barnhill Ward
London Borough of Brent
Ms. Shumaila Ali,Mr Nimit Shishodia, Ms. Hetal Kataria
Hema Mistry
Preston Ward
London Borough of Brent
Harmit Vyas
Northwick Park Ward
London Borough of Brent
Manoj Mishra, Kanta Mistry
and Jayanti Patel
Queensbury
Dr Kaushik Chakraborty
Broadheath Ward
Yash Patel
Alperton
Sonia Maya Dhiman
Heston East
Jignesh Patel and Jesal Patel
Hounslow East
Rahul Gupta
St. Paul’s Cray Ward
Borough of Bromley
Aarti Joshi
Belsize Ward
London Borough of Camden
Ragbhir Sandhu
London Borough of Bexley
Sonal Sher
Hoe Valley ward
Woking
Preeti Rana
South Woodford ward
London Borough of Redbridge
Ekta Gohil
Colham & Cowley Ward in Hillingdon
Uxbridge & South Ruislip Constituency
Rishiraj Goenka
Wandsworth Town in
Wandsworth Borough Council
Soma Pemmireddy
Bassingbourn Ward in South Cambridgeshire District.
Abbas Merali
Moor Park and Eastbury ward,
Three Rivers District Council elections
Paul Singh Bhangal
The Southern Ward of the Camden Borough of Bloomsbury
Pritheepal Singh
Bevois Ward, Southampton Test constituency
Chandra Alapati - Sutton South ward
Sutton and Cheam constituency
Venu Sood - Sutton Central ward
Sutton and Cheam constituency
Mukesh Rao - Sutton West ward
Sutton and Cheam constituency
Binita Mehta-Parmar
Mayoral Candidate Watford
Note: Asian Voice reached out to Labour Friends of India to access their list of Asian candidates but didn’t hear back from them by the time we went to print on Tuesday evening.
